Ball bats originally used in the game of baseball were made from wood, typically hickory. These early hickory ball bats were relatively heavy, weighing as much as 42 ounces, and had relatively narrow barrels, which is the hitting portion of the bat. For a variety of reasons, ball bats are generally no longer made from hickory. Modern wood bats are made from Northern white ash, which is strong but less dense than hickory. Modern wood ball bats have a larger barrel yet weigh less than hickory bats.
Despite the advancements in wood ball bat technology over the years, the use of wood ball bats in the games of baseball and softball has declined sharply in recent years. At the present time, wood ball bats are generally used only in professional baseball leagues that have rules requiring their use. Most modern ball bats are constructed of metal.
W. A. Shroyer, Jr. is generally credited with inventing the first all-metal ball bat. See U.S. Pat. No. 1,499,128. While there were many advancements in metal ball bat technology in the following years, metal ball bats were not widely used until the mid-1970's, when several manufacturers began selling ball bats made of aluminum alloys. These early aluminum ball bats were lighter and stronger than wood ball bats, but had a tendency to dent easily. Modern metal ball bats are manufactured from exotic alloys that are stronger and lighter than the aluminum alloys first used to construct ball bats in the 1970's. Metal ball bats of this type are used in youth baseball leagues to the collegiate ranks, and in both amateur and professional softball leagues.
There have been a number of advancements in metal ball bat technology in recent years. Not surprisingly, most of these advancements have related directly or indirectly to the barrel portion of the bat. For example, Pitsenberger, U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,828, discloses a ball bat having an exterior shell disposed about the barrel portion of the bat. Eggiman, U.S. Pat. No. 5,899,823, discloses a ball bat having a performance enhancing sleeve inserted in the barrel portion of the bat. And, a number of patents disclose a variety of end caps that are inserted into the end of the barrel of the bat to prevent permanent deformation of the end of the barrel of the bat due to contact with a ball. See, e.g. Eggiman et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,602, and MacKay, Jr., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,421,572, 5,785,614, 5,785,617, and 5,931,750.
Other advancements have been made in the area of attaching the knob to the handle of the ball bat. Magadini. U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,247, teaches that a knob can be attached to a bat by welding. Scott et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,063,732, discloses a knob fitted to the handle portion. In the Scott et al. design, there are a pair of aligned holes in the end of the handle portion and a pair of aligned holes in the knob, where an inserted pin extends through both pairs of aligned holes, securing the knob to the handle portion. Easton et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,425, discloses a knob having an interior cavity, where the depth of the interior cavity is sufficient to accommodate the end of the handle. The cavity has a ring of resilient material such as gum, plastic, or rubber positioned therein. The ring is deformed by the end of the handle so that the handle fits tightly inside the knob.
Douglas et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,094,453, discloses a bat having a handle portion and a knob, where the knob has an interior cavity, and the end of the handle portion and the interior cavity of the knob are threaded for attachment McNeely (U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,777) discloses a ridge and groove combination on the handle and the knob so that the knob snaps onto the handle. Feeney et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,056,655, discloses the use of an adhesive to attach the knob to the handle of the bat.
Despite the recent advancements in metal ball bat technology, there remains substantial room for improvement. The prior methods have been typically subject to objection on account of their ease with which the first secured knob may become later detached, either by deliberate act or by accident as an incident of normal use of the ball bat.